Developer Lightspeed

Developer Lightspeed is an AI chat assistant integrated into Red Hat Developer Hub. It helps developers get answers about the platform, templates, and best practices without leaving the portal.

Accessing Lightspeed

  1. Log in to Developer Hub at https://backstage-developer-hub-developer-hub.apps.cluster.example.com

  2. In the left sidebar, click the Lightspeed icon.

The chat interface opens, ready to answer questions about Developer Hub, Backstage, Kubernetes, OpenShift, CI/CD, and GitOps.

Try These Prompts

The workshop pre-configures suggested prompts:

Prompt What You Learn

"Getting Started with Developer Hub"

First steps for new developers on the platform

"Software Templates"

How to create and use templates in Developer Hub

"Neuralbank Platform"

Components of the Neuralbank financial platform and their interactions

"CI/CD with Tekton"

How Tekton pipelines are configured in this Developer Hub instance

 
Try asking: "How do I deploy a new service using Software Templates?"

Architecture

Developer Lightspeed uses a LiteLLM proxy to route requests to the LLM model and a Llama Stack with RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) for RHDH-specific documentation:

graph LR
    DEV[Developer] -->|Chat| LS[Lightspeed Plugin]
    LS -->|API| LSTACK[Llama Stack + RAG]
    LSTACK -->|Embeddings| VDB[Vector DB - RHDH Docs]
    LSTACK -->|Inference| LLM[LiteLLM Proxy]
    LLM -->|Model| VLLM[vLLM / LLM Provider]

Plugin Configuration

The Lightspeed plugin is configured as a dynamic plugin in Developer Hub:

plugins:
  - package: red-hat-developer-hub-backstage-plugin-lightspeed
    disabled: false
    pluginConfig:
      dynamicPlugins:
        frontend:
          red-hat-developer-hub.backstage-plugin-lightspeed:
            appIcons:
              - name: LightspeedIcon
                module: LightspeedPlugin
                importName: LightspeedIcon
            dynamicRoutes:
              - importName: LightspeedPage
                menuItem:
                  icon: LightspeedIcon
                  text: Lightspeed
                module: LightspeedPlugin
                path: /lightspeed

Lightspeed Backend Configuration

The backend connects to the Llama Stack server running as a sidecar:

lightspeed:
  servers:
    - id: "llama-stack"
      url: "http://localhost:8321"
      token: "${LIGHTSPEED_TOKEN}"
  prompts:
    - title: "Getting Started with Developer Hub"
      message: "Can you guide me through the first steps?"
    - title: "Software Templates"
      message: "How do I create and use Software Templates?"
    - title: "Neuralbank Platform"
      message: "What components make up the Neuralbank platform?"
    - title: "CI/CD with Tekton"
      message: "How are Tekton pipelines configured here?"

RAG: Documentation-Aware Responses

The Lightspeed instance is enhanced with RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) using RHDH product documentation:

vector_dbs:
  - embedding_dimension: 768
    embedding_model: sentence-transformers/all-mpnet-base-v2
    provider_id: rhdh-docs
    vector_db_id: rhdh-product-docs-1_8

tool_groups:
  - provider_id: rag-runtime
    toolgroup_id: builtin::rag
    description: >
      Only use for questions specifically about Red Hat Developer Hub (RHDH).
      Searches technical documentation for RHDH installation, configuration,
      release, and extending with plugins.

This means when you ask about RHDH features, the assistant retrieves relevant documentation chunks before generating a response, producing more accurate and grounded answers.

Question Validation

Lightspeed includes a question validation shield that ensures questions are relevant to the platform:

  • Valid topics: Backstage, RHDH, Kubernetes, OpenShift, CI/CD, GitOps, Pipelines, Kuadrant

  • Off-topic questions receive a polite redirection

RBAC Permissions

All authenticated users have Lightspeed permissions configured through Developer Hub RBAC:

p, role:default/authenticated, lightspeed.chat.read, read, allow
p, role:default/authenticated, lightspeed.chat.create, create, allow
p, role:default/authenticated, lightspeed.chat.delete, delete, allow

Summary

Developer Lightspeed brings AI assistance directly into the developer portal, helping you discover templates, understand the platform, and troubleshoot issues — all without leaving Developer Hub. The RAG integration ensures responses are grounded in actual RHDH documentation.